§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth 56W Affairs whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the figures regarding Ugandan Asian immigrants, as detailed in his letter to the hon. Member for West Ham, North, under date of 25th October, 1972, and the figures sent by his private secretary on 26th October dealing with the same subject; and how these compare with the information given on Monday, 23rd October, by his Department.
§ Mr. KershawThe figures sent to the hon. Member were necessarily interim ones and I see no point in circulating them in the OFFICIAL REPORT now. Final figures will be given in due course.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will cause an investigation to be made to ascertain how and why on Monday, 23rd October, the Government announced that approximately 20,000 Ugandan Asians had entered Great Britain since being forcibly expelled from Uganda, at the same time as a figure of 17,500 was quoted by the Ugandan Resettlement Board; and if he will clarify this apparent discrepancy.
§ Mr. KershawNo. There is no discrepancy. The hon. Gentleman is confusing figures for entry certificates issued in Kampala with figures for arrivals in Great Britain.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) whether he will give details of the approaches he has made to the countries of the European Economic Community to take in Ugandan Asians; whether, as from 1st January, 1973, immigrants from the Commonwealth will have to reside in Great Britain for five years before they have free admittance into the countries of the European Economic Community; and how this ruling will affect the Ugandan Asians now entering Great Britain who decide to settle in Europe as from 1st January, 1973;
(2) how many Ugandan refugees each of the countries of the European Economic Community has agreed to accept.
§ Mr. KershawMany European countries amongst them members of the European Community, have been asked to accept Ugandan Asians for resettlement.
57WThe details of firm offers from Community countries are:
West Germany—1,000.Belgium—30 families.Netherlands—A number, unspecified.Under the definition of a United Kingdom national set out in the Declaration annexed to the Treaty of Accession, Commonwealth citizens will only qualify for free movement within the European Economic Community after they have registered as citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies.
Those Ugandan Asians who are already citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies will qualify for free movement within the European Economic Community under the definition after they have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom for five years. If they should wish to settle in another member country of the Communities before the five years have elapsed, they will need to seek the special approval of the immigration authorities of the country concerned.